warm-up before biking ??

[HappyPuppy]

I want to use the bike a bit with my girl, Ruby. She has bad hips (accordingto x-rays not behavior yet) and she ends up mostly sprinting in our back yard due to how shallow it is. I'd like to work in like 2 days a week of bike-jogging. I don't really want to take a walk around the block before we head out on the bike but I'm wondering if that or any kind of warm-up is in order???

I can also go to the park for more of an all-out run (vs short sprints in my yard) but want to mix it up for variety and different muscle useage...

I have had no success so far on getting her onto the electric treadmill I got - and tried to force her on last nite so that's probably going to be a big backtrack - ugh! I could keep working at that tho vs the bike since it's rubbery vs street-asphalt...

[maberi]

I run Earl a lot (he joins me for my runs) and I usually will do about a 1/4 mile walk for the both of us to get warmed up before we start our jog. At the end of our runs we also do about a 1/4 mile cool down as well.

It's good for humans to warm up and cool down so in my mind the same thing applies to our canine friends

[Malli]

I'd have her do stretches before and after...

have her standing

lift each front leg up to where it feels like is her limit and back, so the elbow is locked to where it feels like her limit; hold each position for 10-15 seconds


lift each hind leg up, tucked up with the hock and foot flexed, straight and forward toward the front end and head, and then lock the knee and do straight backward, same as above, stop where it feels like her natural limit is, and hold for 10-15 seconds in each position.

I've found it can make a tremendous difference in Oscar in the rest of the day and the day following.

You can use treats to encourage her to cooperate with holding the positions, and you can also use treats to get her to stretch herself
an example : http://agilitynerd.com/blog/dog/health/ ... tches.html

my only concern would be that running on the asphalt might be too hard on her joints?

[TheRedQueen]

Remember that it's much easier for us to bike than it is for them to run alongside...I always had to make sure that I started with short trips when I started my dogs with biking. (of course now they're in better shape than I am). But unlike running with dogs, it seems to be easier for people to not realize how long they've been draggint their dog along.

One of my b-day requests this year is for my parents to fix my bike so I can take the dogs out again.

Also...check the temperature of the surfaces she'll be on (asphalt gets REALLY hot in the sun!). You don't want to burn her feet!

[Malli]

Oh, Erin makes a good point, and once you've been dragging your dog, then you also have to find a way to get them home again...

I found that to be a bit tricky with Oscar and his arthritis, sometimes he'll lag behind on walks, and we're out in the middle of nowhere, and he's a 75 lb dog (this is when I wish he was a "standard size" Pit Bull, so I could carry him).
I think probably the worst option for this situation is to not only have the dog get to the point where they are lagging behind (exhaustion or soreness) but to compound it, have to push themselves under this condition - this is where injuries and heat stroke come from

so, in other words, caution is key...

sometimes I'll take myself for a walk(and by walk I mean brisk-walk-strut- I hustle!), then come home and take the dog out, because I know on some days he can't go for as long as I can any more.

[HappyPuppy]

I usually seem to under-do it when biking - we get back and she's hardly winded and STILL wants to play ball! LOL She's a panting heap on the floor after playing fetch but that's total sprinting and I think we need some more 'jogging'.

I think this weekend, I'll try to make a 'frame' with sides for my e-treadmill and a harness attach point .. prob is, tho, her 'brakes' go on and she skids vs moving her feet to walk on it (but that's just based on 1 forced try). She'll eat treats off of it while it's moving, tho, so all hope may not be lost...

[furever_pit]

+1 to stretching. I started stretching Dylan before exercise a few months ago and it has made a big difference. I haven't noticed that stiffness the next day that I saw before.

At the end of our bike rides Dylan is pretty worn out so for our cool down I take him for a mile to mile and half long stroll. It may just be my perception but I like doing this because it allows me to push my dog a little harder without having to worry if I am asking too much. I think that this has helped him feel more loose afterward as well.

[call2arms]

Since I don't have a yard, I take Jessie and my bike and we do walk around the block so she can "empty", and after that we bike really slowly. Her hips have been x-rayed last year and show a slow start of degeneration, so I only allow her to stay at a trot. I do plan on getting a treadmill for both of us (I've been planning since this winter, ) because it is softer - my kees are sh*tty, so no jogging right now either.

If you can, I'd definitely take her swimming more than biking though, it's a bit easier on the joints.